Film festival launched in Harmony Twp.

Sunday

HARMONY TWP. — Hearts will be stirred and warmed Saturday at a former country club outside of Ambridge.

That’s where The Venue at Harmony Ridge will host its inaugural film festival, screening 13 short films from directors who hail locally, and from as far away as Canada, Indiana and Virginia.

The films, averaging 6 ½-minutes, were culled from 20 submitted by indie filmmakers in genres such as drama, fiction-narrative, documentary and animation-dark comedy. Most are heavy and emotional; though a few favor whimsy.

The Harmony Township venue, now open to the general public, invites spectators to vote for their favorite film, seeing if they agree with the festival’s judges who gave their top accolades to Arleen Ojeda, a New Yorker transplanted in Freedom.

Ojeda’s eight-minute “Veiled Light” skillfully weaves three narratives with a few twists, based on true and poignant events the 41-year-old director witnessed as a mental health counselor.

“My films are very protective of underdogs and people who can’t be protective of themselves,” said Ojeda, who now teaches digital imaging and Photoshop at Community College of Beaver County, while seeking her master’s degree in film from Chatham College.

Her “Veiled Light” will be the last film screened Saturday, following second-place finisher “Harold, Please,” from Lindsay Berkebile, a junior at Rochester Institute of Technology in Rochester, N.Y.

Berkebile plans to attend the festival, where she can answer questions about her thought-provoking look at an elderly recluse who is so consumed with events outside his apartment window he fails to recognize the romantic possibilities offered by a kindly caretaker.

The judges bestowed third-place to Paul Lee of Toronto, Canada, for his visually engaging tale about the affection and final parting between a Japanese monk and his novice.

Among the local films being screened is “Cokehead Drive,” a Quentin Tarantino-ish look at two drinking buddies who get caught up in the world of drugs and murder. “We want to make simple, dialogue-driven films that entertain and tickle the funny bone with dark humor,” writes the film’s co-director Victor Miller of Brighton Township.

The festival launches at 7 p.m. with a wine tasting and hors d’oeuvres that are included with the ticket cost.

Films will screen from 8 to 10 p.m., followed by a cash bar, deejay and networking. The spectator-selected People’s Choice Award will be announced at 11 p.m.

The Venue at Harmony Ridge owner Greg Paul said the film festival will be annual is and just one of many cultural and recreational events planned at the former Ambridge Country Club.

“I have always believed that Beaver County and the greater Pittsburgh area is home to many super talented and creative individuals,” Paul said. “My (goal) is to create events to showcase these talented people in an entertaining fashion — musically, theatrically and artistically.”